Drunken Lament
by Let Love In
Summary: On the night of her 25th birthday, Molly drunkenly sleeps with her best friend's fiancé, Gill. When she tries to forget about the incident and deal with her guilt, an accident renders her unable to work on her farm without assistance. And guess who the mayor sends to be her farming helper? The beginning is loosely based off the "Something Borrowed" series. Rated T for language/sex.


**A/N: Yay! New story. I haven't written in a while so I hope I haven't gotten too rusty!**

**The beginning of this story is based off the beginning of the hit series "Something Borrowed". The story will progress much more different than the series so don't worry! Just sit back and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

I was drunk.

Okay, not blacked out, stumbling around, throwing up in flower vases kind of drunk. Just drunk. Happy. Not thinking about the worries about being my best friend's maid of honor, not thinking about the large harvest coming in tomorrow.

As of this moment, I hadn't a care in the world.

Luna, a stunning bride-to-be and one of my closest and dearest friends, stumbled towards me with a martini sloshing around in her hand. She slipped into the seat next to me, her whole body relaxing as soon as she hit the chair. She had been mingling all night long and seemed completely exhausted from the chatter. Must be hard to be so likeable.

"This is a great birthday party," she slurred, her large eyes drooping downward. "Were you s-surprised?"

"Yes, very surprised."

As surprised as I could be when Luna was dropping "subtle" hints all week. _What are you doing Friday night? For your 25__th__ birthday? _She would ask, a surreptitious tone creeping into her voice. I, of course, said "nothing". _Oh_, she said with a smirk. _I was just, you know, wondering. No, no reason at all. Just wondering _(insert wink here). I know I'm a farmer, but I'm no country bumpkin. I could smell a surprise party from miles away. After all, that was Luna's _thing_. Parties. Whereas my area of expertise was so far away from partying and socializing that you had to take three buses and a ferry to get there.

"Good," she said, her head now fully resting on her limp arm on the table. "I'm glad so many people showed, or else it would have been a total bust."

It was true, almost the whole town was at the bar, chatting loudly and picking at the finger food scattered upon the tables. Of course, not too many of them actually knew why there was a party tonight, or who it was for. I kept to myself for the most part, only really talking to shop keeps and the mayor. Which would seem odd, considering I was best friends with the biggest socialite this island had ever seen.

The one time I tried to branch out was when I started becoming interested in a certain carpenter from the Garmon Mine District. I had scanned the crowd at least five times so far that night, and his electric blue hair still did not enter the musty room.

But at the moment, I wasn't thinking about that. And I wasn't thinking about how every single villager greeted Luna as a best friend, while giving me nothing more than a glance. No, for the moment, I was content, especially after downing that third glass of wine. My world was becoming blurrier and the people seemed less… scary.

"Mrrnnnnffgf," I heard Luna mumble from next to me. For a moment, I stared at her, ignoring the blurriness.

Luna. She was always the center of attention, the piece de resistance. The life of the party. Tonight, the night of my 25th birthday, was no exception. At one point she had the whole bar's attention, laughing at her drunken banter and hilarious stories. An hour later she was on a table, dancing and pounding down a shot with Kathy and Owen. How long ago was that? I could still see her shaking her head in disgust as the alcohol burned down her throat.

And now she was next to me, practically asleep, mumbling something about Jack Daniels and how they were no longer friends.

Out of the blue appeared a rather stuck-up looking boy, wearing plaid shorts and a completely wrinkleless polo. He winced when he caught sight of Luna, his bride-to-be, passed out at the table. "What the fuck…."

Gill and Luna had been engaged for about a season now, ever since she yelled at him for not having enough balls to give her the blue feather. The whole town was abuzz with the news. Rumor was, when Gill got engaged, Mayor Hamilton would finally bestow the title of mayor upon his "rightful" shoulders. This gave Gill a more pompous, entitled look about him that made me hate him even more than I normally did.

Gill and I had never gotten along. When this island was close to being completely torn down, he was the one person who didn't believe I could help put it back together. Even now, when all the shops were running again, and all the people had that brightness back in their step, he still thought I was a screw up. I tried to smile at him but instead I just grimaced. He returned a similar glance that screamed, "I don't know why my fiancée hangs out with you".

So charming.

"I think she's done for the night," Gill mumbled, more to himself than to me. He poked her shoulder as if approaching a sleeping bear. There was no response. I sighed; I was used to being the one taking care of Luna, watching her have all the fun while I made some excuse about having to wake up early the next day. I couldn't count on my fingers and toes how many times I had watched her get from drunk to wasted, and then saunter out of the bar with some boy. And I was always left to walk home alone, where the only boy waiting for me was my smelly cow Chip.

But it seemed like Gill was a keeper. She stayed with him for longer than I thought was possible for her (which was not that long), and she talked about him like he was prince charming. As I watched Gill struggle to pull her out of her chair, cursing quietly to himself as he did so, I laughed to myself. _Prince Charming my ass. _Yet, I couldn't help but feel jaded about the whole situation. Here was just another experience that Luna had before me. Love.

"A little help here?" Gill growled, his skinny arms threatening to give out under her weight. Luna was by no means fat, but her soon-to-be hubby was not the strongest of the bunch ("I've never dated someone like him, I kind of like that he has no muscle," she would say proudly). I swung one of her arms over my shoulder and Gill did the same, and slowly but surely we hauled her out of the bar and back to her home, which was not a far walk, thankfully.

When we got inside, we dumped her onto her bed and placed a glass of water next to her, just in case. For a split second, Gill looked at me and gave me a look that I knew very well. A look that said, "why does it always have to be us?"

"Gill?" came Luna's small voice.

"Hm?"

"Gill, I left my purse there. I know I did, I need my purse Gill, please go get it for me, plleeeeeaaasee," Luna murmured drunkenly, her eyes still closed. Gill made an odd sniffing noise and turned around, making a beeline out of her house. I followed, stumbling a bit myself as we headed back to the bar.

"Does she always get like this?" Gill said between his teeth.

"Not always," I lied. I could tell he was frustrated with her, as she had barely said two words to him the whole night.

We pushed through the doors of the bar. A majority of the people were still there, mingling and refilling their drinks. I felt a little out of place without Luna, but I figured I was still feeling buzzed and could find someone to chat with until I got tired.

"Good luck with her, let me know if you need help," I said off-handedly to Gill as he nabbed Luna's purse from a table.

"I'm not going home yet," he replied with a snippy tone. "I'm going to get a drink."

_Good for you_, I thought. Maybe one of us could have fun without Luna.

He sat at the bar and flagged down Chase, ordering an appletini. I sat at the barstool next to him (the only open one in the whole joint) and ordered a margarita on the rocks.

"Appletini? Really?" I asked him.

"What's it to ya?" he asked defensively.

"It's just a bit… _girly_, don't you think?"

"_No_, I don't think that," he said defensively, instantly getting red. "Some people just don't have good taste, that's all."

Chase appeared with my margarita and a bright green beverage. He slid the drink towards Gill and eyed him closely. "Here's your…" He stopped for a second, snickering quietly to himself, "'Drink.'" His fingers even formed airquotes.

Gill rolled his eyes. As soon as Chase was out of earshot, he said quietly, "I don't drink that often, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I teased, taking a long sip of my margarita. It was stronger than I was used to, but I was already feeling a bit loopy so I drank it down. "I'm surprised, since this bar is practically Luna's second home."

"Yeah, well I usually let her do her own thing," he said plainly, taking a long gulp and then sputtering loudly. A dribble of green liquid rolled down his chin and he turned beet red. I couldn't help but laugh to myself; it was hilarious seeing him look like a buffoon. Gill, who was always so put together, now had a large green blob on his staunch polo that probably took hours to iron.

After a few more minutes of him mumbling to himself about his brand new shirt, I realized that my margarita had been reduced to just ice. Chase swooped by and grabbed me a refill, claiming that I needed to "get hammered" since it was my birthday. I laughed and shook my head but allowed him to bring me a new glass of poison anyway.

"So, were you really surprised?" he said out of the side of his mouth.

"Are you shitting me?" I replied. "Luna is the worst at keeping secrets. Ever."

"I know. She told me about my Christmas present the second she bought it. It was literally the first thing she told me when she got back from the shop," he said, laughing to himself. "But I guess no one knows her as well as you do."

"I'm sure _everybody_ knows her as well as we do," I said. "She's no closed book."

"Can't argue with you there," he said. I laughed again to myself, realizing that this is the first time that we have ever had a civil conversation. And it was over Luna. Why did Luna have to be a part of every conversation?

"So did you have a good birthday?" he asked me. Seems like he wanted to get away from the Luna topic as well.

"Sure, I guess," I told him, swiveling in my chair and almost falling over. I giggled profusely. I guess I was more drunk than I had previously thought. "I mean, the surprise was definitely nice."

There it was again. That look. Similar to the one he had given me earlier, but definitely more meaningful. As happy and grateful as I was that Luna had gone to such great lengths to throw me a party, I know there was a different motive. And as much as Luna would tell me how she did this "all for me" to have a "great birthday", she didn't do this for me. She did it to throw a party, to have the attention, and to drink with the townspeople. I knew this and I knew that Gill also knew it. It was an unspoken trust.

Gill and I sat together in silence, drinking and slowly becoming more and more inebriated. Several villagers came up to talk to me, and I found it to be rather easy to reciprocate their friendliness. I smiled and waved as several shop keepers wished me a happy birthday and exited the bar, leaving mostly younger villagers at the bar stools. It was then that I noticed Luke on the other end of the bar, sitting casually with his arm against the bar.

"Excuse me," I said to Gill without another glance before confidently strutting towards the end of the bar. Luke caught sight of me and waved, approaching me with arms open wide.

"Molly! Happy birthday!"

_Swoooooooon_. I could have died right there as he wrapped me in a short-but-sweet hug.

"We were all just about to take a shot; care to join, birthday girl?" he asked, pointing to Kathy, Owen and Calvin. He winked. I don't know what came out of my mouth but it was somewhere in between "yes" and "of course" and "sure".

Chase set down a wobbly tray of shots, filled to the brim with brown liquid. I was never too good with shots but I was feeling loopy and it was just now registering in my brain that Luke had winked at me. I took one, not caring that I spilled a little on my hand.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gill swiveling in his bar stool, looking bored. I almost waved him over but decided against it. He has never shown an ounce of kindness to me, so why should I be nice?

"One…. Two…." Counted Calvin in his low voice. I stared at my shot nervously. "Three!"

Everyone tilted their heads back and let the alcohol slide down their throats. I resisted the urge to cough and scream and puke on the people in front of me. Instead I smiled, laughed and set down my glass triumphantly.

"I never knew you were such a heavy weight," came a drawl from behind me. Gill had walked up to our small group with a look of disdain. "Luna told me earlier to make sure you didn't drink too much. I think you're done for the night."

His words were harsh but his eyes had become glazed and blurry, and by the looks of it he was falling over to one side. I laughed because of how hard it was to take him seriously.

"Looks like I should say the same thing to you," I commented under my breath as my newfound friends behind me giggled and snorted.

"Another round?" came Chase's voice from the bar, already armed with a tray of shot glasses. Another had been added for Gill.

"Yes!" I said with vigor, shoving a shot in Gill's face and taking one for my own. Luke smiled at me as my arm brushed his by accident. For once in my life, I forgot all about Luna and decided to channel her inner confidence instead. I smiled back and even threw in a wink for good measure.

Another count down and the shots were gone; Gill sputtered and coughed but gave a thumbs up to the rest of us.

After a few more moments of lingering, Calvin and Kathy stood from their stools, beckoning Luke to follow them. He gave a sort of shrug and stood as well, leaving me with a short goodbye that made me shoulders sag a little. Maybe he was just being nice because it was my birthday? Or what if Luna told him that I had liked him ever since the Flower Festival? I shook that thought from my head and stared at Gill.

"You okay?" I asked him. There was now only a few more bar goers, and many were packing their things to go.

"Yes… yes, I think so," he said; his voice was low and hazy. "One more for the road?"

I was surprised. The only side I had ever seen of Gill was the snooty side – the side that constantly looked more well-groomed than me and always reminded me of it. The side that told me I smelled like cow dung and could use a hairbrush. But now… he just looked normal, if not a little lackadaisical.

"Why not?" I replied without thinking. After all, it _was _my birthday.

* * *

My mouth tasted awful. It was a mix of rum and tequila and… was that puke? Did I throw up last night? I wouldn't be surprised. I rubbed my forehead, wondering how to alleviate this splitting headache and disgusting stomachache.

My eyes weren't even open when I stumbled out of bed and towards my sink, not caring that I didn't have any clothes on and not caring that it was probably late morning. I let a groan escape my mouth when I realized exactly how much I had to do today. I splashed a few handfuls of water on my face before rummaging through my drawers for some clothes.

It wasn't until I was halfway out the door when I heard a noise from behind me. Not just any noise. A sniff or a snort of some sorts, the kind of noise that most definitely came from a sleeping human.

I whirled around just in time to see my best friend's fiancé's face emerge from my covers.

And I made it to the bathroom just in time to hurl my stomach's contents into the toilet.

**A/N: Let me know what you think!**


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